we will build our defenses beyond challenge, lest weakness invite challenge. we will confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new century is spared new horrors. the enemies of liberty and our country should make no mistake america remains engaged in the world by history and by choice, shaping a balance of power that favors freedom. we will defend our allies and our interests. we will show purpose without arrogance. we will meet aggression and bad faith with resolve and strength. and to all nations, we will speak for the values that gave our nation birth. america, at its best, is compassionate. in the quiet of american conscience, we know that deep, persistent poverty is unworthy of our nation's promise. and whatever our views of its cause, we can agree that children at risk are not at fault. abandonment and abuse are not acts of god, they are failures of love. and the proliferation of prisons, however necessary, is no substitute for hope and order in our souls. where there is suffering, there is duty. americans in need are not strangers, they are citize